Bleaching my plastic buckets.

[Brewnoob1]

Mixing bleach and vinegar is 'like waging chemical warfare on yourself' as I read somewhere. Tread with caution.

Yeah, that's why I mentioned to not do them both together Add one (bleach for example) first, fill with 5 gallons of water, add the vinegar. No issues doing it this way

 

[passedpawn]

Sooo... are you saying that yes, a more robust beer could impart a taste to a lighter beer if they were fermented in the same bucket?

I'm saying... not sure! I was really just responding to the idea that plastic is impervious to flavors.

I don't ferment in buckets, but if I did I wouldn't worry about a strong beer affecting a light one. But I don't worry as a rule (and I relax and have a homebrew, too).

 

[BGBC]

No problems if you rinse well. But I've switched to oxyclean instead of bleach for household stuff too since I can't seem to use bleach without getting it on ME

I've used oxyclean free in the past to remove smells from my buckets and it works pretty well. I have also hit them with a baking soda/hot water mixture after rinsing out the oxyclean and let that soak for a while. Usually do ~2T/gallon.

 

[Yooper]

OK, now that some familiar and slightly more trusted (sorry everyone else) have chimed in, I go back to the original post question.

What proportion of bleach / water should I use?

For me, I use as much as it takes. I don't measure (remember, I'm NOT using it to sanitize or anything, just to whiten up and clean the buckets) but I use a splash and some hot water and a clean soft wash cloth and swirl it around and wipe the bucket. I then pour it out, over the lid, and then rinse with very hot water until there is no odor of bleach. Then air dry.

If I was using it to sanitize or doing something no-rinse, I'd certainly do it differently. But this works, and I've been using the same buckets since about 2006 for the most part, with beer and wine.

 

[brewkinger]

Thank you to everyone.